Hours after Regis Philbin announced that he is retiring, co-host Kelly Ripa was still having trouble imagining "Live With Regis and Kelly" without him.

"While I realize that nothing is forever, still I had always hoped there would be an exception," Ripa, 40, said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter. "I can't overstate what Regis has brought to the table."

"I've got one of those announcements to make today," he said. "This will be my last year on this show. It's been a long time. It's been 28 years since I've been here. And it was the biggest thrill of my life to come back to New York, where I grew up as a kid, watching TV in the early days and never even dreaming that I would one day have whatever it takes to get in front of a camera and talk to it."

Philbin added, "There is a time when everything must come to an end for certain people on camera — especially certain old people!" He will sign off from "Live" sometime at the end of the summer or early fall.

"His chair might soon be empty," Ripa told the Hollywood Reporter, "but the wonderful moments I have experienced with him over the past 10 years will always make him a meaningful part of my life."

When contemplating retirement the majority of us seem pre-programmed to only consider the far reaching financial implications of never bringing in an income again! But the fact of the matter is that there are many more things to consider if planning on retiring abroad, not to mention the fact that many retirees overseas pick up odd jobs and part time positions advising and assisting other expatriates with their lives and businesses anyway!^

shocking news????? come'on regis is almost 80,,think it is time he retire,,,actually it was a much better show with kathy ,,,,,kelly is just so impressed with herself,,its like she is just posing for the cameras,,,

I'm sad to see Regis go, but I think Kelly and another host (Mark would be my 1st choice) will fair just fine. I can imagine Regis retiring to sunny Florida, I wander if that's what he's been getting in order te last time he went down there. Regis and Kelly or Kelly and someone else, Fox still has my vote for morning tv, actually my TV is pretty much on Fox all day... Beginning with local news, then R & K, Rachael Ray, & Dr.Oz, noon news, AFV, then court shows (minus the Divorce Court, which is pointless) then evening news, the Sienfield spot I usually turn it, then flip it back over for prime time, and night news. All in all Fox has a great lineup. Far better than NBC & CBS, Kelly can do far better own her own VS Kathy & Yoda (now there's 2 that I wander wth?)

Regis is the best part of the show! Kelly is a great Co-Host.Your kidding yourself if you think the show will succeed without him.It will "go down the tubes faST! He has a "God-Given" talent
" to make people laugh & want to listen to him.You could have at least Offered him the "Same" amount of money. just because the Ratings are the same, doesn't mean that people are happy when he's not there.What it meaNS is that we are so used to tuning in every day,but we can't wAit until he comes back. AND,stop cutting back on there 20 min. of Dialog every A.M..It's the best part of the show! I bet 'Gelman is responsible for that. "LESS GUESTS & 20min.DIALOGUE"! You have my permission to use my E;Mail anywhere you want.
E-MAIL ADDRESS:minimejw@yahoo.com

once regis goes so do i. he is one of the last of the people from the 60's talk shows. johnny was the best but regis is always fun to watch. as for kelly without regis i won't watch anymore. she can be unberable at times. enough of her.

I am also going to tune out after Regis leaves the show. The show will never last with so much direction always given to the camera and the right angle for kelly.It is such a shame Enjoy yourself Regis, who knows, maybe you'll end up with another show . We'll all be there to watch if you do.

Regis should stay and Kelly should leave. I stopped watching the show because I can't take Kelly. She talked too much and everything is all about her. The show has fallen and the blame is on her. Enjoy retirement Regis.

The 10-year anniversary was the big announcement. It was definitely promoted as a "personal announcement" and talked about as if Kelly was going to retire too. If it wasn't for Regis's retirement, the 10-year anniversary would have been a big announcement in Gelman fashion but everything has been shadowed by Regis quitting the show.

Thank you, Tracy. Yes, it was interesting how they gave that implication yesterday that it was Kelly's announcement. But you're right, if it weren't for Regis leaving, that 10 anniversary would have been the big announcement. Funny part was, I didn't pay much attention to the real announcement today, because I kept waiting for Kelly to say she was leaving or pregnant or something. LOL

April, I was thinking the same thing. My husband said that it was all over various Sports Talk Radio shows yesterday as well. They were guessing the same thing. When they spoke of her big announcement yesterday, they didn't say anything like "don't worry she's not leaving" or anything so I kind of wondered but then I thought, why wouldn't they just say that the show was going off the air at the end of the summer? It's all about ratings. lol

Ya, you're right, Tracy. I hadn't thought of that. No-one said don't worry, Kelly's not leaving. You hit it on the money though... all about the ratings. lol My husband was convinced she was leaving as well, and that they were in it together and had it planned out. Wait 'til I tell him the big announcement. lol The other thing I wondered about is why Kelly didn't say more than she did as a response to his leaving. I thought she'd say something like, 'sorry Reege, I'm having trouble concentrating on anything now'. I know I was. As soon as Reege gave his announcement, that's all I could think of and never heard the rest of the host chat. lol I guess it's one of those things where you never think it's going to happen, even though it's understandable. You know, whether he's liked or not, it really is a big deal that he'll be leaving. It's an end of an era for one. And he's been around on tv for soooooo many years. I was actually surprised that more wasn't said at the time. Possibly, even Gelman speaking to the viewers about the show and choosing a new co-host, etc. Everyone just assumed Kelly would be going at it with someone else because the list of names came out almost immediately for guesses as a replacement.

Yesterday, Regis said to Kelly that she has an announcement of her own and that she was going to make it tomorrow (which was today). What was it? Does anyone know? I know their 10th anniversary of doing the show together is coming up and they'll have a week of celebration, but I thought Kelly had a specific personal announcement. That's the way it sounded anyway. The anniversary celebration pertains to the 2 of them.

I always enjoyed the show but Regis wants to go on and do other things a daily ddaily can be very hard. I even named my Tibetain Terrier after him his name is Regis. And people always ask where's Kelly!

Well, Happy Retirement Regis! Well, now they may let Kelly Host the show with a male person.I watched the show mostly because of Kelly, and Regis. Yea Regis table and he needed it all. Well, Kelly as host, with any co-host I would keep watching. Anything else and I'm gone CBS. . . . . . .

You and Lisa are so right. Kelly is not capable of handling that show. She is so annoying, she has no talent. She contributes nothing to the show except to scratch herself, play with her hair and look at her boney body in the camera. Just cancel the show. Once Regis is gone no one will care. Maybe then Ripa's husband will finally get a job.

He's been slipping anyway, hasn't anyone else noticed that he's missing cues and making some seriously outlandish comments lately, either his eyes or his memory are going, and Kelly has had to keep the show on track. Just saying...,

I will miss regis terribly, we can always count on him for good clean funny stories. I'm sure he will enjoy retirement.
I would love to see Kelly joined by her husband Mark. All the top stars mentioned I have no interest in.